windows 10 activation hardware change

[Rathbone]

Has anyone else had this? I upgraded from win 7 a couple of years back and my windows key is linked to my ms account. I changed motherboard (old one faulty) but can't activate windows (yes, went through trouble shoot loop).
Contacted MS support, they said that they couldn't find my key, it was lost and the only option was to buy a new key? WTF?! Has anyone else had this from MS?

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you know the key for your old Windows 7 product you can usually reactivate using that key. If you did not have the key linked to your account or if the key was not a valid key to begin with, or was purchased through a shady site like G2A or Kinguin, then you are probably out of luck.

This thread pretty well covers all the possibilities.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3770832/reinstall-windows-changing-z370-270.html#21257272

 

[Rathbone]

If you know the key for your old Windows 7 product you can usually reactivate using that key. If you did not have the key linked to your account or if the key was not a valid key to begin with, or was purchased through a shady site like G2A or Kinguin, then you are probably out of luck.

This thread pretty well covers all the possibilities.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3770832/reinstall-windows-changing-z370-270.html#21257272

Thanks. I don't have the original key as windows came installed on the pc originally with no key supplied. I had previously reactivated windows 10 on this machine through the troubleshoot route however I was a little annoyed at MS's response given that licenses are now "digitally supplied" and that it's linked to my account.

Anyways I'll have a look at your link, thanks.

 

[Darkbreeze]

OEM licenses are not given, supposedly, although I've seen it go BOTH ways, a digital entitlement. If it worked before though it should work now. I'd contact them again and ask to speak with a supervisor, then explain the situation in detail regarding the fact that your license was previously linked to your account. Also, make sure you don't have more than one MS account and are trying to mistakenly activate using the wrong account.

I've done THAT myself.

 

[USAFRet]

Call MS again.
You'll get a different front line rep, who is hopefully a little more clueful.

 

[Rathbone]

OEM licenses are not given, supposedly, although I've seen it go BOTH ways, a digital entitlement. If it worked before though it should work now. I'd contact them again and ask to speak with a supervisor, then explain the situation in detail regarding the fact that your license was previously linked to your account. Also, make sure you don't have more than one MS account and are trying to mistakenly activate using the wrong account.

I've done THAT myself.

Thanks, wondering whether to do a fresh install (which is a time consuming pain). I actually have 2 windows licenses under 2 accounts (don't ask) but it won't let me log in under the second account.
My license is linked to my account but MS say that they can't find my activation code (even though it's linked). I did this same process (successfully) only s month back (motherboard problems) and it worked 1st time.
I'm thinking of calling them (although I've seen keys on eBay from £2.80, is it worth the trouble?). It's the crux of the issue though, we have digital licenses but they can't find my code; who's in the wrong?

 

[Rathbone]

Call MS again.
You'll get a different front line rep, who is hopefully a little more clueful.

Yeah, I thought same thing. Way back I had similar issue and I don't think I had linked license to account and they fixed it. This time they just say it's lost, buy another license.

Thanks

 

[USAFRet]

(although I've seen keys on eBay from £2.80, is it worth the trouble?).

No, don't do that.
Generally, MS is very lenient on broken and replaced motherboards. Even long before Win 10 and the license linking concept.

 

[Rathbone]

(although I've seen keys on eBay from £2.80, is it worth the trouble?).

No, don't do that.
Generally, MS is very lenient on broken and replaced motherboards. Even long before Win 10 and the license linking concept.

Ok, thanks for that, I'll try them again tomorrow. I did feel that I got a dud on the service desk. Think I'll actually call them and speak to someone (the horror! At least to an intp like myself).

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, like I said, and USAFRet said as well, contacting them again is very likely to get a different response each time. Asking to speak with a supervisor is also a viable step if you don't get a favorable tech on the line.

 

[Rathbone]

Yes, like I said, and USAFRet said as well, contacting them again is very likely to get a different response each time. Asking to speak with a supervisor is also a viable step if you don't get a favorable tech on the line.

Contacted support again. Technician still seemed to be having problems getting it to activate, then he made some changes and restarted the machine. Blank screen, reboot, blank screen. Yup, the support tech had managed to screw up my windows installation and I was left with no option but to format hard drive and reinstall. Thankfully I have a boot drive and all my other data on separate drives. Problem is I'm a) still installing and updating windows, drivers etc., b) have lost all the saved passwords to webpages (iplayer etc. so my mrs isn't too happy with me) and c) windows still won't activate.

But I did find this on the windows support page though;
" If Windows was preinstalled on the PC, then a new license is required if you have made a change such as replacing the motherboard. "

So perhaps they aren't too happy to help with hardware changes. Although I've changed this motherboard before and activated windows 10 so this statement on their support page isn't exactly true either.

Either way I'm gonna talk to a support manager because I'm not happy that they screwed up my machine.

 

[USAFRet]

"upgraded from win 7 a couple of years back" negates that 'preinstalled' concept.

 

[Darkbreeze]

^^^Exactly. Once you have a digital entitlement from upgrading, that should be THE end of that conversation.

 

[Rathbone]

I would agree as I've swapped the motherboard before and activated windows 10 without problem however I have since read on Microsoft support forums that it depends if you have an OEM license or a full license. It is said that if you have an OEM license that changing the motherboard means you need to get a new version of Windows. Again I have an OEM version and I have reactivated windows 10 previously so, it seems, there are a number of things stated on those support pages that are, perhaps not true (or i've just been lucky).

Anyway, we digress, I think the technician managed to find my key but I don't think windows is accepting it for some reason.

At the moment I'm re-reinstalling everything as now my display driver won't install properly as it says there may be a register issue.

Thanks all for your help and advice, I'll get back onto MS support once I've got the base system back to where it was.

Regards,

 

[Darkbreeze]

That only applies if that is the version you still have. Once you've upgraded to Windows 10 you should have a digital entitlement that follows YOU, not the hardware. I've upgraded and then changed hardware on several systems that had OEM Windows 7 or 8.1 to begin with and didn't have any issues activating after the hardware changes. Unless something has changed in MS policy or they've tightened the controls, I think those you are talking to are full of BS and simply don't want to deal with helping you out.